Police yesterday said they believe that the Manhattan man gunned down in a livery cab over the weekend was the intended target of the brutal hit because of the number of shots fired at him.

Authorities were still wrestling with a motive in the slaying, which occurred in a livery cab that wasn’t licensed to operate in the five boroughs and may have had illegal decals.

Police said an unidentified shooter, riding in a Honda Accord, pulled alongside the town car on East 129th Street between Park and Lexington avenues and began blasting around 11:30 a.m.. At least three of about 10 shots struck passenger Reginald Caraway, 32, police said.

He was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.

Law-enforcement sources said the livery cab, a Lincoln Town Car sedan, operated from a Westchester County business and did not have Taxi and Limousine Commission plates that would have allowed it to service the city.

The plates were traced to a Westchester County dispatcher. However, decals on the vehicle said it operated from a Bronxbased livery service, Diplo First Class on Fordham Road.

Workers at the Bronx dispatcher service said they did not know the driver, whose name was not available.